isolationism
Stay-home foreign policy
Isolationism is a national policy of avoiding political or economic entanglement with other countries.
The term arose in American politics, where it describes opposition to foreign alliances, military intervention abroad, and international commitments: Isolationism dominated U.S. foreign policy between the world wars.
The word often carries a critical edge, implying narrow self-interest or naïve withdrawal from global responsibilities.
Policy of staying uninvolved
- neutralityState of taking sides
- nonalignmentRefusal to join blocs
- unilateralismActing without international cooperation
- withdrawalAct of taking away
disengagement · nonentanglement · Monroe Doctrine · America First · go-it-alone · noninvolvement · aloofness · detachment
Shielding local producers
- tariffsTaxes on imports
- trade barriersRestrictions on cross-border commerce
- embargoOfficial prohibition on trade
- autarkyComplete economic independence
self-sufficiency · import quotas · customs duties · mercantilism · economic nationalism · subsidies · anti-globalization · trade restrictions
Devotion to one's country
- nativismPreference for native-born citizens
- xenophobiaHatred of outsiders
- ethnocentrismBelief one's culture superior
- jingoismBellicose extreme patriotism
populism · inward-looking · parochialism · anti-immigrant · anti-foreign · exceptionalism · chauvinism · tribalism
1918 to 1939
- Smoot-HawleyProtectionist 1930 trade legislation
- hermit kingdomNation deliberately avoiding outside contact
- sakokuTokugawa-era isolation policy
- Iron CurtainCold War's political divide
nonintervention
Policy of staying uninvolved
- neutralityState of taking sides
- nonalignmentRefusal to join blocs
- unilateralismActing without international cooperation
withdrawal · disengagement · nonentanglement · Monroe Doctrine · America First · go-it-alone · noninvolvement · aloofness · detachment · hands-off
protectionism
Shielding local producers
- tariffsTaxes on imports
- trade barriersRestrictions on cross-border commerce
- embargoOfficial prohibition on trade
autarky · self-sufficiency · import quotas · customs duties · mercantilism · economic nationalism · subsidies · anti-globalization · trade restrictions · import substitution
nationalism
Devotion to one's country
- nativismPreference for native-born citizens
- xenophobiaHatred of outsiders
- ethnocentrismBelief one's culture superior
jingoism · populism · inward-looking · parochialism · anti-immigrant · anti-foreign · exceptionalism · chauvinism · tribalism · cultural preservation
interwar period
1918 to 1939
- Smoot-HawleyProtectionist 1930 trade legislation
- hermit kingdomNation deliberately avoiding outside contact
- sakokuTokugawa-era isolation policy
- 20th CenturyWorld War I aftermath, Cuban Missile Crisis, atomic bomb, New Deal, Nazi Germany
- 1920s AmericaCharles Lindbergh, Jazz Age, Spirit of St. Louis, flappers, transatlantic flight
- Edo Japanshogun, samurai, shogunate, daimyo, Tokugawa
- foreign policydiplomacy, diplomatic negotiations, sanctions, containment, deterrence
- Global Politicsforeign affairs, international affairs, global affairs, world politics, foreign relations
- feudal Japansamurai, shogun, daimyo, shogunate, bushido
isolationisminternationalism
Favoring cooperation among nations
globalism · multilateralism · interventionism · cosmopolitanism · engagement
isolationisminterventionism
Policy of deliberate involvement
expansionism · militarism · imperialism · hawkishness · regime change
isolationismfree trade
Unrestricted international exchange
globalization · open markets · economic integration · neoliberalism · laissez-faire